Huggins' "Inheritors" combat team became the last straw that crushed the pirates and barbarians.

But what is surprising is that even though they are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of combat power, these raiders from the north still choose to fight until the last moment, and few surrender.

The next day, Cumberland returned to Twilight with his troops. His team was much larger than it was when he set out. The army of more than 200 people actually escorted more than 400 prisoners, including more than 20 large and small nobles.

If you count the pirates and barbarians, the total number of captives in Twilight exceeds five hundred.

Rather than dealing with so many captives, Huggins sneaks in with Todd and tells him the bad news that Twilight is out of money.

Todd was originally surprised by this, but after reading Monk Joe's bookkeeping, he was ashamed to find that most of the funds of the "Twilight West Mutual Aid Society" were used in his own laboratory, except for the construction of a few projects. Experimental bottles, cultivation raw materials, consumable materials, etc., all require a lot of money to procure.

After another week, the southward migration team returned to Twilight.

Under the supervision of the army, all the captives and the inhabitants began to repair and rebuild the town. A large number of burned buildings were torn down, blacksmiths equipped with "bacteriological fuel bottles" produced raw materials 24 hours a day, and all the original wooden materials of the houses in the town were replaced with cement concrete.

Due to financial constraints, Todd had to provide cheap food to the captives. As a result, the captured nobles jumped out because of the incident, and they strongly protested against this practice, believing that it was an insult to them to let themselves eat the same meals as the soldiers.

After discussing it together for a while, the nobles proposed a "minimum standard" for a meal to Todd. These include sausages, air-dried meats, smoked fish, bread, vegetables and porridge.

Looking at this menu, Todd was furious, and he only had one sentence for the reply of these nobles.

"Twilight is a land under Heavenly Father's rule, where there is only faith, no class. 』

This lasted until late March, when a group of emissaries arrived from the Silver Ring, and they approached Todd to discuss one thing—a ransom for the nobles.

Todd, who had no experience in such matters, delegated the negotiating power to Cumberland and Mary, and after a week of negotiations, the ransom of the nobles amounted to 17,000 silver moons, which was paid to the Sacred Treasury in Twilight.

Another week passed, and from the merchant's mouth, Todd learned an important piece of news.

The Holy Acropolis has officially gone to war with the Silver Ring, and the Church's Templar Order has been put into battle as a support force for the former.

In response to this matter, Todd convened a special meeting of the Knights to discuss the next strategy for Twilight Town. The meeting place was also moved from the original chapel hall to the newly built headquarters of the Order.

Watching everyone sit down, Todd first spent ten minutes explaining the general situation of the Battle of the Twilight. It was then up to Huggins to report on the troop losses.

Cumberland's army had three killed and eleven wounded, while the militia regiment garrisoned in Twilight Town had 37 killed and nearly 100 wounded. In addition to this, there was a melee xenomorph who was killed during a battle in the Escort camp due to a heavy blow to the head.

Listening to Huggins talk about the alien species, the other people in the meeting did not look unusual, they had heard some news more or less beforehand, and they also knew that in Twilight Town, there was such a special army, and they only obeyed the orders of the commander-in-chief.

"How are the xenos getting along with the inhabitants in the town right now?"

Hearing Todd's question, Rachel thought as he said, "Most of the xenos have already moved into the town, and according to the classification of abilities, there are already quite a few shops willing to hire them. But there are still a small number of people who are not yet adapted to the existence of xenomorphs, mainly those who have migrated south and returned. ”

Todd touched the bridge of his nose and looked at Cumberland again, "Those captives in the town, how are they now?"

The old knight stroked his beard: "Those captives in Silver Ring City, whether it is labor or discipline, are reassuring. The problem is that the pirates and barbarians, because they have blood on their hands, the inhabitants naturally do not have a good face towards them. ”

Todd nodded, looked at the others, and asked if there was anything else.

Monk Joe began: "The reconstruction of the town is not going well, and the main problem is the lack of fuel. Chief, can you produce some more of those canisters that produce gas?"

Todd thought that there weren't many "fire" bacteria in the lab, so he jotted it down on paper and treated it as a priority.

The knight Dion, dressed in simple women's clothes, spoke, "I have heard that the Grand Master can borrow the books of the monastery. The students who arrived from the capital wanted to read the books. ”

Todd bowed his head and said, "No problem, you can contact the monks for the books you need, and they will go to the monastery to borrow them." ”

After answering a few more questions, Todd looked at the crowd and sat up straight: "This meeting is being held today to discuss an important matter - what should the Knights do next?"

Cumberland spoke first: "The Holy Acropolis and the Silver Ring have officially gone to war, and the Church Knights Templar are involved. The Silver Ring had just suffered a major defeat in Twilight Town, and it was only a matter of time before it was defeated in terms of strength and morale, facing both the Acropolis and the Church army. Therefore, I think that the Silver Ring will bring in barbarians as reinforcements to counter the enemy. ”

Hearing this, Todd said in a somewhat uncertain tone: "Introducing barbarians, that means that Silver Ring City and all the parish kingdoms have become enemies, and they will do this?"

Cumberland tapped his finger on the table in front of him, "For the Silver Ring, this is the only solution to the kingdom's dilemma. And for us, it's a great opportunity to expand. ”

Todd asked, "Expansion?"

"If the Church defines the Kingdom of the Silver Ring as a doctrinal traitor, then this will give us the best excuse to send troops. Cumberland glanced at Todd: "And most of the forces of the Silver Ring City will be trapped in the battle with the Holy Acropolis and the Church troops, so naturally they will not have time to take care of the war in the west." ”

Todd pondered for a moment, then asked, "If it's an expansion, where should you target the attack first?"

Cumberland thought for a moment and said, "To the southeast of Dusk Town, is the territory of Viscount Bartlet, maybe you can start from there. ”

A week after the end of the meeting, news came from the battlefields in the East.

The Silver Ring lowered the drawbridge at the Overwatch Fortress and allowed the barbarian forces to enter the south. At about the same time, the Church issued an oracle that stripped Guy VI of his membership and defined the Kingdom of the Silver Ring as a heresy.

And in Twilight Town, a troop of xenomorphs and sergeants set off to the east, setting foot on a strange land.